Postoperative outcomes in symptomatic pediatric patients with congenital pulmonary airway malformations

Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate the short-term postoperative outcomes of symptomatic congenital pulmonary airway malformations (CPAMs) and compare them with asymptomatic CPAMs. Patients and methods: Between January 2007 and January 2024, medical records of a total of 18 patients (10 males, 8 females; median age: 120 days; range, 4 to 2,160 days) who were operated for CPAM and whose CPAM was confirmed histopathologically were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 included symptomatic patients, while Group 2 included asymptomatic patients. Presence of postoperative complications such as oxygen requirement, ventilator requirement, pneumothorax, persistent air leak (≥7 days), pleural effusion, transfusion requirement, surgical site infection, postoperative pneumonia and sepsis were recorded. Results: The median postoperative follow-up was 29.2 (range, 1 to 84) months. The surgical procedure in all patients was thoracotomy. Group 1 had a higher postoperative complication rate and all patients with complications in this group were younger than three months. The postoperative oxygen requirement rate was significantly higher in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (p<0.05). There was no significant relationship between the chest tube duration, operation technique, and age in Group 1 and Group 2 (p>0.05). Conclusion: The presence of symptomatic CPAM and surgery before the age of three months may increase the risk of postoperative complications, particularly postoperative oxygen requirement.